Community praised as property crime drops across Central North

Chief Inspector Helen Dean with Superintendant Gerard Lawson. Photo TWH

Property crime is trending lower across the Central North Police District, a shift local police say is the result of determined work and stronger community cooperation.

“Property crime across the Central North Police District is trending downwards, which reflects the downward trend across Western Region and the state despite that the perception of crime might be increasing,” Superintendent Gerard Lawson, District Commander of Central North Police said.

“Crime does fluctuate, and we still get the occasional crime spike, but police act quickly to identify offenders and put them before the courts.”

BOSCAR data shows that in Bourke, motor vehicle theft has dropped 47 per cent and stealing from retail stores has dropped 48 per cent in the last two years. In Walgett, break and enters and other stealing offences have dropped six and 11 per cent respectively.

Superintendent Lawson, who is based in Bourke, attributed the steady improvement to “hard and determined police work, along with the cooperation of the community.”

“Police can struggle to solve crime without assistance of the public, and the community is to be congratulated for heeding the messages around personal responsibility for their contribution to the trend,” he said.

“Locking up your home, car and valuables is a common message to the public, that sadly sometimes goes unheard.” […]

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